Zzounds Like the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread
Written: Aug 07 '01
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The Bottom Line
If you are purchasing new music gear and can get past the fear of ordering online, Zzounds aims to please. You won’t be disappointed.
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I have realized that not enough people in our world care. This epiphany, however, is shared among many. For instance, you go into a restaurant and your waiter/waitress doesn’t care; instead, he or she makes you wait for your drinks, forgets to ask you if you need anything like ketchup or a refill, and takes what seems like an hour to get your check. Another instance is when you take your child to the doctor and the office staff treats you like third class mail – an ignored pile in the far corner collecting dust. Retailers, moreover, could care even less. As soon as they discover the consumer is educated and knows as much (sometimes more) about the product as they do, they see fading dollar signs. It is difficult to find a retailer that actually cares and caters to the customer’s needs. Furthermore, it is rare to find a retailer that is willing to sacrifice a little profit for the sake of gaining someone’s business and making them feel good about the purchase. Online and offline music retailers are my concern here because I am an amateur musician, and, like you, I enjoy educating myself on each purchase I make. However, some music retailers hate when I come in with a full understanding and analysis of the equipment’s features, origin, manufacture process, and dealer cost. It is usually the latter that irritates the hell out of the retailer. But in sorting through a large number of online and local music retailers, I’ve discovered one that truly earns my whole-hearted endorsement – Zzounds.com. Zzounds.com is an online music retailer that not only caters to the consumer but goes beyond the “call of duty” to make you happy – a rarity in our capitalist, dog-eat-dog (or retailer-eat-customer’s wallet) world.
Evidence That Zzounds Cares: My Journey into the Abyss of Local Retail
After trudging through The Big Three music retail stores (you know who they are) in my local area, I am hopeless to find the deal I want on my new piece of musical gear. Call me cheap, but I refuse to lose an extra 20%-30% to a large music retailer that could care less about my needs and item awareness. At the “MM” store (store names withheld), I dealt with hired “kids” that knew nothing more about the difference between Gibson and Fender than “the Gibson stuff is over here and the Fender stuff is over there.” The “SA” store played me for a fool when their associate claimed, “That is the lowest I can go without giving you this thing below cost.” Dealer cost, my associate friend, is $100.00 less than the price I offered to pay. The “GC” store was no different. Although I have had a good relationship with one of the more knowledgeable associates in the past, he wasn’t there this day. Instead, Mr. I-Think-My-Customers-Know-Nothing is on duty and commences to punish me with his snake-oil sales rap. I am not malicious, and opposite of most people in our society, I actually care about the feelings of others, so I casually smile and walk out of the store, never to return.
I am at a loss. I know what I want and am willing to pay a fair price for it, but I refuse to be taken by elevated retail prices. As a fan of online shopping for books, music, and electronic/computer-based items, I decide to look at the online sites for music gear. Musician’s Friend is out of the question – they took two weeks to get a damaged product to me the last time I ordered. Music 1-2-3 likes to play the same game as my local retailers. So I decide to check out Zzounds.com. Harmony Central’s users seem to rave about it, but they rave about a lot of bogus products too. I decide to give them a try, however.
The Things I like about Zzounds
Zzounds shines in all of the areas my local retailers did not. Their customer service department is friendly, courteous, and quite knowledgeable about their product base. I both called and e-mailed their staff about product availabilities and features, and they gave immediate, knowledgeable responses. Furthermore, they have a “Zzounds Spy” program that allows you to surf or shop for low prices and report them to Zzounds. If the price you found is above cost, they will not match it, they will BEAT it. They are serious about this policy, and it sets them light years ahead of other retailers that tout the same policy but refuse practice it (e.g. Music 1-2-3, Musician’s Friend, Sam Ash, ect.).
Zzounds ships their products on the day you order. Most companies lay claim to this policy, but only Zzounds implements it. For example, I placed an order at 4:00 p.m. EST and received a tracking number the next morning with information that it was shipped the prior evening. Conversely, I ordered a product from another popular online company (MF) and it took almost a week for them to ship my order – a product that was in stock.
Everything Zzounds ships is new and in a sealed factory box. Every order I placed with Zzounds resulted in a defect-free, factory-fresh product. This is more than I can say about the other big online retailer. The few products I ordered from MF were sold as new but received blemished.
The Things I don’t Like About Zzounds
Although Zzounds carries a wide array of products, they don’t have everything. Also, they don’t carry as much of a variety of brands as the gluttonous MF, but Zzounds makes up for this in terms of service, shipping, and price. The only complaint I have is that some of the products you want might be on back order. But if you are not an instant gratification guy like me, a wait won’t hurt.
The Verdict
I am one of the toughest customers to satisfy. Successful retailers, however, should know how to gratify my type. Zzounds is one of the few successful retailers left in our society. If you are purchasing new music gear and can get past the fear of ordering online, Zzounds aims to please. You won’t be disappointed.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Stan Blackburn
Location: NJ
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 7 members
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